Werewolf pretending
by Exarikun
Summary: - ABANDONNED - *Chapter 5* Jarod meets the Slayers and someone who nobody expected shows up...
1. Meeting a stranger

Disclaimer: I don't own Jaord or any other persona from the serie. To bad though, I really like Jarod.

Authors note: This is a crossover with the Pretender universe and the Mystic World. I really have no idea if that is a serie or not, but what I mean is, the world in wich mystical creatures exist. Creatures like werewolves, vampires, demons, etc... This is my first Prentder fic. It also is my first try on anything mystical, so be kind when you review.

Well, enough said, let's begin...

******

Chapter 1

-- Meeting a stranger --

Jarod had been having a very odd feeling all day long. It was like someone was trailing him. Not liking that feeling one bit, he decided to go out, take a walk. Maybe it would help clear his mind. So he put on his T-shirt and went for a walk along the beach. (A/N: it's summer and he's in Florida...) The soft wind did help to clear his mind, but the feeling didn't go away. In fact, it was getting stronger.

'_What **is** that feeling? Is the Centre having someone following me? But I send them on a false track so I could finally have some rest before going back to pretending. If it's not them, then who could it be?_' Jarod thought. He was getting extremely nervous about the feeling. '_Maybe I'm just imagining things. I'm probably going paranoid._' He chuckled to himself. The funny feeling decreased and finally vanished completely.

Little did Jarod know that there was indeed someone waching him. It wasn't a Centre goon though. The man had had the same feeling Jarod just had ever since he passed outside Jarods building. Only difference was, the man knew what the feeling meant. '_So, I was right. He is one of us._' Now that the stranger knew what he wanted to know, he stopped following the man and turned back. '_Time will tell me what to do._' He thought.

------

Dusk was falling and Jarod was sitting on the beach, looking at the sunset. '_That is the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen._' He sighed. To think that this had been denied to him as a child, just because The Centre wanted to exploit his talents. Then that feeling from that moring came back, only it was feeling closer than before, but at the same time it felt...less hostile.

"Beautiful end of the day isn't it?" The man from earlier asked. "Yes, it is." Jarod replied. "Mind if I join you?" The stranger asked. "No, not at all." Jarod said, although he had a feeling that this man was the one that caused the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. The stranger was acctually a lot more uncomfortable then Jarod. Being so near one of his own kind, one who didn't even know what he really was and so didn't know how to mask or at least lower his presense, was painfull to say the least. But outwardly, no sign of discomfort was shown.

"I'm Jason." The stranger introduced himself and held out his hand.

"Jarod." Jarod replied and took the offered hand.

Both were surprised about the strenght the other possesed. Jason had never expected that Jarod would have that much strenght. '_He must be using his heritage unconciously._' Jarod on the other hand thought nothing of it, exept that maybe this man trained a lot. "You sure have a strong grip, Jason." Jarod commented.

"Well, your grip isn't to be underestimated either, you know." Jason replied to that.

"Really?" Jarod asked. He never thought himself as exeptionally strong.

"Sure."

Both men where silent for a while.

Then, almost simultainiously, thay began to speak.

"Where are you from?" Jarod asked.

"You from around here?" Jason asked at the same moment.

Both stared at eachother and began laughing. They found it so amusing, that their stomachs began to hurt from their laughter.

"Ok, you first." Jason said once he had his breathin back under control.

"Where are you from?" Jarod asked again.

"Oh, here and there. Going where my feet bring me. I don't know. I was told that my mother and father were killed in a car accident when I was very young. My aunt took me in and raised me." Jason replied.

"Sorry, I didn't know."

"If you knew, there would have been no reason for you to ask me, right? It would have been a hole lot easier if my parents were there when I grew up, but I pulled through. I survived. How about you?"

"I was taken from my family when I was a child. A organisation know as the Centre raised me. I ran away 3 years ago and they've been on my tail ever since." Jarod said, not realising he was telling this to a complete stranger.

"Why are they after you?" Jason asked, curious. '_If someone is after him, we're going to have to go underground till his training is finished._'

"I have the talent of pretending..."

"You're a Pretender??" Jason asked, dumbfolded. He had heard about Pretenders, but never actually met one. "Let me get this straight, you're a Pretender and the Centre has been using you ever since you were a little boy. Then you ran away and now they want you back, wether you want to go back or not. Am I right?" He asked.

Jarod could only stare at the man sitting next to him. Not only had he told him about the Centre, but he just mentioned the term pretending and voila, this guy summarises his life in a nutshell.

"Jarod? You ok?" Jason asked.

Jarod nodded and seemed to snap out of his trance.

"You know about Pretenders? How? From who?" Jarod inquired. He was intriged.

"Yes, I know about Pretenders, but only what they are. You're the first I ever met. As from how and from who, I can't remember. I think it was my teacher who told me about them. People with the ability to become anyone they want to be. He told me because I had to learn how to do the same. To be able to hide in public."

"You're a Pretender too?" Jarod asked, misunderstanding.

"No, just that I had to learn to be able to disguise myself, to be able to change my identity when nessesary.

"But why?"

"Let me ask you something. Do you believe in the supernatural?"

"What? Like bending a spoon with your mind?" Jarod asked, confussed.

"No, that's the paranormal. The supernatural. You know, creatures like vampires, werewolves, demons, etc. Do you believe in that?"

"No. There are no such creatures. They're fiction." Jarod stated.

"What makes you think that they aren't real? Because you've never seen one?"

"Yes. If they were real, then it would be likely that people would know about them."

"Not true, Jarod. If you were a vampire, you wouldn't be able to move in the sunlight, so that excludes a lot of busy areas. Second, vampires can take human form. They only morph into their demonic face when they feed or before a fight. And third, you wouldn't want to be killed because you're a vampire. You would hide as much as possible."

"You sound like you really believe in those beings."

"That's because I know that they exist, Jarod. Look at it from another point of view. Who in his right mind would believe that there are people around that have the ability to litteraly become anyone they want to be? Very little people would actually believe it and even less without some sort of proof."

"I'm not saying that I **couldn't** believe that those kind of creatures are real, but some proof would be nice." Jarod said. Jason had made sense when he made the comparison with his own talent. Very little people would believe a story like that.

"Jarod, have you ever had a feeling in the pit of your stomach? A feeling that someone or something was close?"

Jarod became suspisious. Jason was describing the feeling from earlier that day very accuratelly. When no reply came, Jason continued.

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you? You've had a feeling like that ever since this morning until sometime around noon. I know because I've been feeling the same thing all day. That feeling is your presence, Jarod. I could feel it from the moment I walked past your building. I'm feeling it at this very moment, and let me tell you, it's not a feeling that can be discribed as very pleasurable. When you had that feeling, that was me you felt." Jason said.

"Ok, let's assume that what you're telling is true and that you can somehow 'feel' my presence here. If I felt you earlier, then why can't I feel you now?" Jarod asked, not believing a word of what Jason had just told him.

"I knew you'd pick up on that. The reason why you can't feel me, is that I, unlike you, have already learned to mask my presence. I can prove it by stop masking it if you like. But be warned, I'll only reveal a little of my presence, because of the closeness between the two of us."

Jarod nodded and Jason concentrated on his masking technique. He then lowered the strenght of the masking so Jarod would know he was telling the truth. The effect was immediate. Jarods eyes went wide and he scrambled to his feet, holding his hands over his stomach. "Stop it! It hurts!" He yelled. Jason immediatelly masked his presence completely. Jarod sank to his knees, still holding his stomach.

"Imagine what would have happened if I completely let go of the masking." Jason said.

Jarod looked at him with fear in his eyes. But there was also determination in those eyes. And it was that that told Jason that Jarod would be allright. "What are you?" Jarod finally asked.

"I am just like you, Jarod. We share the same blood. The blood of the wolf."

"We are...werewolves."

******

Done! Well, chapter 1 anyway. What did you think? Liked it? Didn't like it? Just tell me what you think of it. REVIEW!!!!!!! If no-one likes it, I'll be forced to discontinue this story and refocus on my DBZ fic... PLEASE REVIEW!!!!


	2. Revelations

Disclaimer: I don't own them. There, I said it. Happy now? (Lawyer smiles and relaxes a little) *Damn lawyer, stop bugging me about disclaimers...* (Lawyer glares at me) Mumble, mumble...

Author's note: Helloooooo, fanfic readers! So, the very few that made the effort of actually reviewing (glares at everybody who didn't review) thank you veeeery much. It really makes my day to see that at least some people appriciate hard work...

PS: Reply to a reviewer, this isn't a crossover with any series that I know of, just with the mystical world...

******

Previous chapter:

Jarod looked at him with fear in his eyes. But there was also determination in those eyes. And it was that that told Jason that Jarod would be allright. "What are you?" Jarod finally asked.

"I am just like you, Jarod. We share the same blood. The blood of the wolf."

"We are...werewolves."

******

Chapter 2

-- Revelations --

Silence met Jasons words. Silence that lasted at least 5 minutes. Finally, Jarod recovered enough of his higher brain functions to speak.

"You have GOT to be kidding me. Werewolves? Those things don't exist." He exclaimed.

"Trust me, we're definatelly real." Jason said. "I can feel it very strongly. That's another thing thats got me beat."

"What?" Jarod asked.

"Ok, first of all, I know that you don't quite believe me yet, but let's pretend that I'm telling the truth. Ok? I'll explain a few things first and then, if you still don't believe me, I'll prove to you that we really are werewolves. Deal?" Jason proposed.

"Ok" Jarod said.

"Right, I'll begin with the basics. There are 2 categories of werewolves. The first category are the Turned Ones. Those are human beings that became a werewolf by being bitten or scrached by a another werewolf. They usually don't know that they are a werewolf. They're the weakest among the werwolf kind. Every month, during the three nights of the full moon, they transform into their werewolf forms and go on rampage. When they are in theur wolf forms, they become beasts. They know nothing but the instinct to hunt and kill. Fortunatelly, they mostly go for caddle. Still, it happens that a werewolf comes across a human being. In a case like that, their are three possible outcomes: one, that person gets away, unharmed. That option is virtually non-existent. Two, that person gets away, but has been bitten or scrached, in effect becoming a werewolf themself. Ot the third option, that person gets killed by the werewolf. The Turned Ones are the most dangerous in normal circumstances because they will attack everyone, exept their own family."

Jarod sat their, shocked. "Are you saying that I'm a mindless killer 3 nights a month?" He asked.

"I didn't say that. Let me finish. The Turned Ones are the first category of werewolf. The other category are the born werewolves. One of their parents, or possibly both, are a werewolf also. From the moment one of the parents is a werewolf, the children are born werewolves. Wether the parent or parents are Turned or born werewolves themself doesn't matter. You and I are both born werewolves. That is why your wolf-signature is so strong. But I'll come back to that later. Their are several differences between a Turned One and a Full werewolf, the first being that they are stronger and faster. Second, they can transform whenever they want, wheter it be fully or just partially..."

"Partially transforming? What do you mean by that?" Jarod asked.

"Partially transforming means that you begin the transformation, but don't complete it. I'll show you later. Full werewolves can't stop their transformation when the full moon rises, but they do know the difference between good and bad. Unlike Turned Ones, Full werewolves won't attack a human being unless threatened. Full werewolves also have the possibility to become a Master Werewolf, but not every Full werewolf becomes one. Before you ask, a Master Werewolf is a Full werewolf that has the ability to resist the call of the full moon and thus preventing his transformation. It also has supirior strenght, speed and senses compared to a normal Full werewolf. It eminates a power that draws others of our kind to it. They consider the Master Werewolf their leader. I'll tell you more about Master Werewolves later, but first some things that go for eny werewolf, be it Turned or Full." Jason paused.

"Werewolves are nearly immortal. We age very slowly and are vert hard to kill. The only ways to kill us are decapitation, incineration or with a mortal found made by silver. Any other way will only temporarelly kill us, meaning that we will revive when our body is fully healed. We also heal very fast. Normal wounds will heal ten times faster, but wounds afflicted by others of our kind or by silver will heal at a normal rate."

"What about that signature you spoke of?" Jarod asked.

"We can sense that another of our kind is near, but normally that feeling quickly reduces to a very faint reminder that the other is their. But with you... I've been sitting next to you for about 45 minutes, but no decrease in your signature. That can only mean on thing, and that is that you are newly awakened. Tell me Jarod, have you ever looked at the full moon?"

"Last month I looked at it for the first time. When I was a child, I was locked away underground and I never took the time to look at it before. Last month was the first time I looked at the full moon. But I can't remember much about it..."

"That's normal. When you change, the wolf spirit inside takes over. Your human spirit is pushed back, but still influences the wolf spirit. That would explain why you can't remember much. It also explains why your signature doesn't decrease in strenght. Your wolf side emerged for the first time last month and now it instincivly seeks a mentor, a fellow wolf. However, it doesn't explain why your signature is so strong. The only reason for that that I can think of is that you are a second or thirdh generation Full werewolf."

Jason came quite and Jarod let the info sink in. He really wanted to believe, it felt so _right_, but at the same time, it sounded so utterly ridiculous. '_Werewolves, for Christ's sake. Is he telling the truth? **Can** he be telling me the truth? It feels so right..._'

"You're wondering if I'm telling the truth, am I right?" Jason asked, getting a very strange look from Jarod.

"Yes, but how did you know that? Are you a telepath?"

"Werewolves can communicate with eachother in that way, but I remember when I was first told that I was a werewolf. I was wondering if that man, that complete stranger, could be telling me the truth. He told me the truth allright. Just like I'm telling you the truth. If you want, I can prove it." Jason offered.

"That would add creddebility to your story." Jarod said.

"Ok, I'll transform. It's dark and we're alone, so no-one will see us. But remember, I may look different, but I'm still me. I won't harm you. If I wanted to, you'd be dead already." Jason said.

He stepped back and closed his eyes. The transformation started almost immediatelly. His muscles began to expand causing his jeans and T-shirt to become really tight. Fur began to grow on every part of his body. His T-shirt couldn't take the pressure and tore. His jeans withstood the pressure. Jasons face began to reform in a snout. His eyes became a gleaming yellow and his theeth grew to real fangs. His upperlip seemed to melt together with his nose and came forward at the same time as his chin became longer. He now wore the face of a wolf. His hands and feet changed into paws. He didn't have any shoes on, so his feet just grew and reformed. His hands became the biggest claws Jarod had ever seen. The transformation lasted in it's total about 10 seconds. Jason streched himself, standing up at his full lenght. Jarod looked at the beast in front of him in pure awe. A beast, 7, maybe 8 foot long, massive muscles everywhere, glowing yellow eyes that looked straight at him. His survival instincs kicked in and he turned and ran as fast as he could.

'_They always do that._' Jason thought. He crouched, and flexed his powerfull muscled rear legs. He gathered his energy and took a mighty jump, 12 foot in the air, over a distance of 30 feet. He flipped over mid-air and landed right in front of Jarod.

"STOP!" He roared. Jarod froze on the spot. A smirk, or its equivalent, crept over Jasons snout. "I told you that I wouldn't hurt you. There is no reason to fear me. I may look a little overwhelming (A/N: understatment of the year! He's a 250 pound muscled killing machine with huge fangs and claws that could tear you appart in less that 2 seconds...), but I'm still the same person. Take a good look at me, feel if you like, so that you're convinced that I'm no fraud. You don't know how to do it yet, but you could do the exact same thing as me." Jason said.

Jarod stood there, looking utterly terrified. Then, he did something he didn't really believe himself. He reached out and touched the fur of the beast in front of him. It was surprisingly soft. He took Jasons claw and examined it. This kept on going till Jarod was convinced that Jason indeed had changed shape.

"So...I could do that too?" He asked.

"Yes. But you would need training and exercise. If you want, I could train you go gain control over your powers. If not for you, then do it for the people that are dear to you so you don't hurt them accidentally. Remember, you will transform every time a full moon rises." Jason said. He decided that returning to his normal state would be better. He returned to his human form, only wearing his jeans. "You know, you wanted proof, so you're going to buy me a new shirt." Jason told him.

"Ok." Jarod said.

"Ok, what?" Jason asked, a little confused.

"Ok, I'll train with you and ok, I'll buy you a new shirt." Jarod answered.

"Oh, good. I expect that the training won't fall that difficult for you since you're a Pretender." Jason said. They walked back to where Jason had told about werewolves and Jason took the remains of his shirt. "Damn, I really liked that shirt." He muttered. He felt in his backpocket and took out an adrescard. "Here. Meet me at this adres tomorrow at, let's say, 9?"

"Fine by me."

"Good. Then I suggest you get some sleep because you're going to need it. I'll see you tomorrow then." Jason said, extending his hand.

"Tomorrow." Jarod answered, taking Jasons hand.

DONE!! Well, what do you think? It took me real long to write, altough I had the ideas in my head. But I managed at last...

**_Next chapter: training, training, more training and...Centre goons!!_**

See you people later...


	3. Training and trouble

Disclaimer: don't own them, just using them for fun...

******

Previous chapter: 

"Good. Then I suggest you get some sleep because you're going to need it. I'll see you tomorrow then." Jason said, extending his hand.

"Tomorrow." Jarod answered, taking Jasons hand.

***

Chapter 3

-- Training and trouble --

Jarod been training with Jason for over a week now. He'd made incredible progress. He had been able to boost his senses using his wolf nature. He could hear a pin drop at 30 feet away in a room full of people. He could see beter than any human possibly could, both at daytime as well at night. He was learning how to use his wolf strenght without having to transform, though he still couldn't transform. There had been a second full moon since they first met and with the presence of a Master Werewolf nearby, Jarods wolf side had aknowledged its mentor. So, basically, Jason didn't get splitting headaches every time he went near Jarod.

Currently, Jarod was doing some meditating to get in touch with his wolf side. Up until now, it had had no effect. Jason was getting hungry from the combat training he was doing. "Hey, Jarod!" He yelled.

Jarod opened one eye, looked at Jason, decided that meditating was out of the question for the moment and stood up. "Yes?" He questioned. "I'm starving. You want something to eat? After all, you just spent the entire afternoon training." Jason told him.

Now that he mentioned it, Jarod WAS pretty hungry. "Sure, I could use a meal. How about pizza?" "Sound just fine with me. Why don't you fresh up a little and I'll make the call." Jarod nodded and walked to the bathroom.

-- 15 minutes later --

Both men were eating from the pizza that had just been delivered and talking about their lives and such.

"Jason, while I was training this afternoon, it was like I felt another of our kind, but it seemed to weak to be real. Did you feel anything?" Jason stopped eating when he heard that. "Now that you mention it, yes, I have felt something. And you were right, it was another of our kind, at least it will be."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that the person we felt, is a Latent. He, or she, is either a newly Turned or a young Born one. Newly Turned haven't transformed yet since they were only Turned since the last full moon. If its a young Born one, it hasn't transformed either."

"But how? I thought that every werewolf, with the exeption of the Master Werewolves, transform with the full moon."

"To transform, a Born one needs be exposed to the moonlight, at least the first time. After that, they will transform with every full moon, whether exposed to moonlight or not. That is why you only transform since last month. You never looked at the full moon before. It's interresting actually. Born ones seem to have a dislike to days of the full moon before they change the first time. Their human side instinctivly knows when there will be a full moon, so they go into hiding."

"So, there are Born ones out there that don't even know they are a werewolf?" Jarod asked.

"Exact. Don't forget, you were one too." Jason said, taking another bite from his pizza. "So, how is the training coming?"He asked.

"I'm able to use my wolf strenght and speed, although I don't think I'm at my maximum yet." Jarod responded.

"You're both right and wrong." Jason said. Recieving some curious and confused glances from Jarod, he snickered and continued. "You're about at the maximum you can physically get, but you're not at your total maximum yet."

"You're even more cryptic than me when you want to be. Speak english, man." Jarod said.

"Allright. Around us, there is energy. Most call it magic, but it has other names as well. You can train yourself in using this energy. You can use it in many forms, wich I'll explain later in greater detail if you want. For example, you can use it to cast magical spells of sorts. Or you can use it to give your physical body a boost. But all of this comes with a price."

"Do YOU know how to use this energy?" Jarod asked.

"Yes, I do. Remember the jump I made when we first met? I used some of that energy in that jump. Only a little though."

"Can you teach me?"

"Sure I can, but not now. Now, we eat." Jason said and dug into another pizza.

***

Meanwhile, outside the warehouse they used to train, 2 black sedans stopped. The first one opened its doors and Ms. Parker stepped out. Soon after, a complete sweeper team stood ready to attack.

"Allright, listen up. Jarod is in this warehouse and I'm not taking any chances. Surround the building and secure all exits. Nobody, but nobody, goes in before I say so. Understood?" She yelled.

The sweeper team nodded and mumbled their responses. "Ok, then. Move out." She told them. The sweepers began surrounding the builing. Sydney and Broots walked up to Ms.Parker. "Do you think you'll be succesfull this time?" Broots asked. "Off course I will, Broots. This time, he's mine."

5 minutes later, the entire team had checked in. "Allright, we're going in." Ms. Parker said.

***

"I think I hear something." Jarod said.

"What?" Jason asked, tuning his supersensitive ears.

The answer to his question will remain a mystery, because Ms. Parker and a whole sweeper team entered the room from various sides, weapons drawn. Ms. Parker had an evil smile on her face.

"Running is useless this time, Jarod. All the exits are blocked. The only way your getting out of here, is with us."

To her surprise, Jarod stayed calm and just looked at his companion.

"Jarod, I think it's time to put some of that training of yours into practice. Don't you think so?" Jason asked.

Jarod nodded. "You take the ones on the left, I'll take the ones on the right."

"Deal. But try to get out of here as soon as possible, cause I don't want to travel all the way to Delaware to bust your ass out off the Centre. I'll take care off the rest of these goons." Jason said.

"Let's boogy." Jarod said. He reached to access his wolf strength and speed and he moved. Jason also accessed his wolf strengths and decided to make a show of it. He jumped to the nearest goon and knocked him out with one punch. He ran at impossible speed towards the goon's neighbour and gave him a headbutt that knocked him right out.

Jarod, in the meanwhile, tried to get out of the building, but there were goons all over the place. "Jarod! Stop right there or I swear to God I'll shoot!" Ms. Parker yelled. Jarod slowly turned towards her and smiled. "Ms. Parker. Long time no see. I've been training since we last met. You'll find it harder than ever to catch me, let alone take me in." Ms. Parker was about to reply when he took a mighty jump onto the second floor of the warehouse. She wached in amazement as Jarod jumped 8 foot in the air. Suddenly, a shot rang out. Everyone turned towards the sound.

Jason stood there, a growing blood stain on the lower part of his T-shirt. "JASON!" Jarod yelled. He felt anger rising from deep within. Jason could feel his friends inner power rising and started drawing magic to finish the scuffle before it became any more serious. His wound was painfull, but not lethal. He'd been wounded far more serious at earlier times. "Jarod! Now would be a good time to get the hell out of here!" He yelled. Jarod saw that his friend was not that seriously injured and he calmed down considerably. "What about you?" He yelled back. "Don't worry about me! I've been in worse situations than this! Now get out! We'll meet where we first met, 2 days from now." Jarod nodded and took off. Jason started a partial transformation. He let his mucles expand beyond their human capacity. He gathered his more magical energy and jumped backwards onto the second floor. The stomach wound was bothering him, but it would be healed in a day or four, maximum five. It had allready stopped bleeding, so Jason didn't worry much about bloodloss.

"Time to finish this."

Gathering great magical energies from around him, he prepared for an attacking technique he hadn't used in 18 years. Forming the magical energies into a glowing ball in his hands, he stood.

"I'm giving you one final chance to get out of here relatively unharmed. I assure you, that if you don't leave right now, you won't be leaving at all." He stated._ 'At least not right away...'_

Normally, Ms. Parker would have thought he bluffed, but seeing that man standing there, with muscles twice the size of those of a normal man and overall not looking entirly human anymore, holding an glowing orb of whatever-it-was, made her reconsider whether it could be real. He already had taken out half of her Sweeper team and even the gunshot wound to the stomach didn't seem to slow him down. She was about to reply that tthey would surrender when the man called her a name that made her blood freeze in her veins.

"Catherine?" Jason asked. He only now noticed the similarities between his first mentor and the woman in front of him. The likeness was so great, he could have sworn that it was her.

Ms. Parker looked at him with an emotion in her eyes Jason could not identify. She didn't know what to do. This man seemed to know her mother, but he was allied with Jarod. Did this mean Jarod knew about this? Finally, she found her voice again and called for him to stop.

"Stop. We'll go. Put your weapons down." She said, the last comment directed at the Sweepers. They hesitated for a second, but put their weapons down.

Jason was no fool. He knew that the moment he'd let go of his attack, they'd rush for their guns again. "Now walk away and pray that we don't meet again in the near future." Jason growled. He knew that he wouldn't be able to keep his attack up much longer. The attack was never meant to be held that long, just to be gathered and used. The concentration it took to keep the attack up was draining him. If they didn't leave soon, he'd black out.

Ms. Parker was smart enough to realise that this man, whoever he was, was not someone to mess with without serious backup. Not to mention that she didn't want to kill a man who possibly knew some information about her mother.She signaled to the remaining Sweepers and after collecting their fallen men, they retreated. She stayed for a moment longer, but then she turned to walk away.

"Wait."

Ms. Parker stopped and turned around. The man had lost the glowing ball of whatever, but his muscles were still impossingly large.

"I know what you want from Jarod and know that I will do whatever it takes to prevent him from ever getting captured again. If I should fail and he does get captured, rest assured that I will come to Delaware myself and rip the Centre apart with my bare hands if that's what it takes to get Jarod out. But I won't harm you, unless you leave me no choice, because you're one of us, only you don't know it yet." Jason said. He could feel the werewolf presence it this woman. And though it was scrambled like someone used a strong magical spell on her to keep her werewolf side locked away, it was powerful. 'She's a Born one, that's for sure. Maybe she's related to Catherine. The resemblance was too great to be just coincidental.'

Ms. Parker was puzzled. She was like them? What was that supposed to mean? Did that mean that the man was a Pretender too? But before she could ask anything, the man spoke again.

"Go now, and give up your quest to return Jarod to the Centre. When the time comes, we'll meet again." And with that, he was gone. Ms. Parker was now completely confused. How could he dissapear like that? Maybe Jarod would call her later and then she would ask. It looked like there was nothing special here, so she walked away. When the door fell shut, Jason came out of his hiding place. He was exhausted. The bullet wound, the partial transformation, the magical attack and the quick displacement to hide himself, all those things were taking their toll on his energy reserves. He hid himself better, just in case they came back and drifted off to sleep. In 2 days, he'd find Jarod and they'd resume their training. Then he'd ask if Jarod knew who the woman was and tell him that she was one of them. The image of Catherine White, his first teacher in the ways of the wolf, was the last thing he saw before drifting into unconsciousness.

******

Done! I finally found the interest to write another chapter. It amazes me that people still read the story months after the last update. For that, I thank you all. REVIEW!!!


	4. Questions and relocations

Standard disclaimer applies.

Hey everyone who reads this story. I'm feeling great today so I'm starting a new chapter for you to read. I got a great suggestion from someone and I think I'm going to use it. So, ready for the chapter? You better be, cause it's starting.

Aiwan: Ain't you the lucky dude? I revised and edited chapter 3 just for you... And yes, I will explain where Jason and others can draw their power from. So hang tight and keep track of the story.

Speaking of the story: here it comes...

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Chapter 4

-- Questions and relocations --

Jason had woken up, two days after the attack. He had spent those days in a healing sort of half-sleep. When he woke the first time, he relocated himself to a place with a lot more privacy. There, he'd eaten and drunk, to replace the fluids he'd lost in the short battle. Then, he'd placed himself in a healing trance. That trance boosted his already superior healing abilities. Now, two days later, the wound created by the bullet was almost completely gone. Only a small wound was still there.

He was on his way to meet up with Jarod, who he had sent away during the attack. He truly hoped that he wouldn't have to go to the Centre to free Jarod. But he practically knew that Jarod wouldn't have been captured. He was far too cunning for that to happen, especially with the training he already got.

He wandered in the vicinity of the beach they met on. No real need to wander on the beach itself, as he would feel it if Jarod was around just fine. He wondered just who the woman from the attack could have been. It couldn't have been Catherine, his first teacher, but she looked exactly like her. She was a werewolf too, of that he was certain. But he feared that her wolf aspect had been sealed away with strong magic. He couldn't imagine why that would have been done, but there must have been a reason for it.

Then, he felt it. The feeling that told him that another of his kind was near. The feeling diminished soon, but it was enough for Jason to inform him that Jarod was close. He looked around, searching for the familiar face of his friend. After a minute had gone by, he finally spotted his young charge. He walked to where Jarod was looking for him.

"Hello, Jarod. It's good to see that they didn't get their hands on you."

"Jason! Are you allright?" Jarod asked.

"I'm fine. The bullet wound is almost completely healed. In a day or two, nobody will even be able to tell that I've been shot."

"That's good. I was worried about you."

"No need to worry. After all, we are practically immortal."

They had started walking again. Jarod looked at his friend and mentor. He was dressed in loose fitting pants, a loose tank top that clearly showed a muscular pair of arms and chest and a pair of black sunglasses. His long black hair tied in a ponytail that hung half past his shoulderblades. There was no way that you could tell that he wasn't completely human by just looking at him.

Jason was aware that Jarod was sending discreet glances at him. He didn't mind because he knew Jarod was simply trying to reassure himself that he was indeed fine.

"Jarod, about the attack. The woman how was with them, who was she?" He suddenly asked. He had spent nearly every waking moment trying to figure out who she could have been, but he had come up empty.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because she lookes almost identical to someone I knew a long time ago..."

Jarod was silent. He had heard the note of sadness in his friends voice. He wondered what had happened to the person Jason had known. He figured that Jason probably would tell him if he asked. But he didn't think it would harm anyone if he told him who Ms. Parker was.

"Her name is Ms. Parker. She's the daughter of the Centre's middle man, Mr. Parker. She has the Pretender gene, but she was never given the training I got. We used to be friends when we were younger, but she went away to study in Japan or so. When she returned, she had become a highly trained opperative for the Centre. When I escaped, they assigned her to be the one to bring me back in. I've found some disturbing pieces of information about her past. She lost her mother to the Centre when she was only a child. She saw her mother's body only moments after she had been shot. Now, she hardly ever shows any emotion besides anger."

Jason took all of this in. The resemblance was just to great...

"Her mother... Her name wouldn't by any chance have been Catherine?"

Jarod sharply turned to his friend.

"How did you know that?" He demanded.

"So it was Catherine." Jason concluded. He could feel a spark of hope igniting in his mind. She was alive! At least, she was that many years ago. But Catherine had always been very careful about the fact that she was a Master Werewolf, so the chance of somebody finding out about that were slim to none.

"I know that because Ms. Parker is almost the spitting image of my first mentor, Catherine White. I met her soon after learning about my fate as a werewolf. That was 114 years ago. I've lost track of her when a mob came after us 2 years after I started training with her. The last I saw of her was that those people caught her. I never knew if she survived that assult. Now I know that she at least lived long enough to give birth to your friend, Ms. Parker."

Jarod couldn't believe his ears. The gentle person he had known as Catherine Parker had been a werewolf. Not only that, but if taken in account that werewolves are practically immortal, there was a good chance that she was still alive. Then, realisation sunk in.

"If the Catherine I knew to be Ms. Parkers mother and the Catherine that was your mentor are the same, that means that Ms. Parker is a werewolf as well..." Jarod said, half in a daze.

"Yes, and she's powerfull. She has allready transformed at least once, Jarod. She's no Latent, but an active werewolf. At least, she would be if it wasn't for the very powerfull spell that keeps her wolf side surpressed."

"Spell?"

"Yes. It was something I noticed after you left the warehouse. She feels like a werewolf, but there the feeling was strongly distorted. Something I've learned to recognise as magic interference."

Jarod was stunned. His friend and would-be-captor was a werewolf being who's wolf side was being held back by a magical spell. There was a chance that her mother was still alive. Next thing he knew, they'd be siblings!

"We have to tell her about her mother. She deserves to know that there might be chance that she is alive."

"Jarod, I understand your sentiments about this. But if you say that she believes her mother dead, and she turns out to be alive... Your friend might feel betrayed by her mother for keeping her survival a secret. I suggest that we first try to find out wheter or not she is alive. I for one, would very much like to see my mentor again if possible."

"That sounds reasonable. But what about the spell that has been cast over Ms. Parker? Is it harmfull? Is she in any danger?"

Jason laughed at that. You had to be Jarod to worry about wheter or not the person that has orders to capture you are in danger.

"Jarod, to be thruthfull, I don't know. I only know that the spell was powerfull, so I assume that all her were abilities are negated. If so, she ages like a normal human and if hurt, heals like a normal person. To have more information, I'd have to get pretty close for a while, so I could get a more accurate reading about the spell."

"If that becomes necessary, I can arange that. But if you don't think it's harmfull, I suggest we try to locate her mother. But how do you suggest we do that? I mean, I have a rather large range of sources, but I wouldn't know where to begin to look for her."

"There is one thing about werewolves, Jarod. We allways help eachother. We could be mortal enemies, but when help is needed, we forget about those feelings until the situation is cleared. When I lost Catherine for the first time, I didn't have the connections in the supernatural world that I have now. I'm quite well known among supernatural creatures."

"Good, that gives us a place to begin. Where do we start?"

Jason pondered this for a minute. There were a number of places they could visit to begin their search, but for some reason, his mind kept bringing up the name 'Sunnydale'. He knew what was located there and wasn't really keen on going back there. But something else popped up in his mind. A little while before he'd met Jarod, he'd heard some strange rumors. Namely that the Hellmouth was guared by not one, but two Slayers. This had spiked his interrest, but not enough to warrant a trip the the Hellmouth. Now, however, he had a second objective. And if there truly was a Slayer there, or two at that, there was bound to be a Watcher looking out for the girl, or girls. Maybe he could ask them for help.

"I think that we should go to Sunnydale, California. There might not be much to start there, but I think we'll encounter some... unique people."

"But, if there isn't something there to start the search, then why are we going?"

"Because while we're searching for Catherine, I plan to introduce you to people and places that could come in handy one day. Ther reason we're going to Sunnydale is that a while back I heard rumors that two Slayers guarded the Hellmouth. In and of itself this wouldn't be such a strange thing, if it weren't for the little problem that only one Slayer can be active at a time."

Jason could see that Jarod was lost. He grinned. Breaking Jarod into the real world of supernatural would be interresting to say the least.

"A Hellmouth is a place where the dimensional barriers that separates our dimension from a Hell dimension is weakened. Creatures such as vampires, low class demons and others evils are attracted to places like this. A Slayer is a teenaged girl that is given the speed and power to fight these evils. When one dies, another is Called. So the fact that there are two Slayers active has peaked my interrest, but not enough to visit Sunnydale again. But seeing that we're going to find out if Catherine is still alive, we might as well visit that town again. Besides, I still owe the vampire population there a great deal of pain and suffering."

Jarod didn't know what to think of the way his friend spoke about causing pain and suffering, but then again, he didn't know how a typical vampire behaved, so he wouldn't judge until he knew more about them. He was intriged to meet these Slayers too. If they fought against vampires, they would have reasons to do so.

"Let's go then. The faster we find whether Catherine is still alive or not, the faster we can inform Ms. Parker."

"Very well, we'll leave immediately. But we'll have to be carefull about the Slayers. They should be trained to deal with other evils other than vampires. So until we can prove that we are in control of ourselves, they might consider us a threat."

"Allright. Let's go." Jarod said, anxious to begin the search for Catherine Parker.

The two werewolves left, both having learned to be able to just get up and leave everything behind. They went directly to the airport and left an hour later for California. They arrived a few hours later and had to rent a car to drive the last few kilometers to Sunnydale. Jason told Jarod all he knew about vampires. He also knew and told about a different 'race' of vampires, known as the Kindred. Jarod couldn't really imagin a real vampire, but it they were evil, then they would be dealt with.

"Can you feel it, Jarod?" Jason asked as they drove closer to Sunnydale.

Jarod nodded. "I feel something, but don't know what it is."

"What you're feeling is the power of the Hellmouth. It's faint for now, but it'll grow in strenght. The feeling will eventually lessen as we stay longer near it. It'll take about a day or so."

They drove in silence after that. Finally, after another 10 minutes they saw the signs that said **_'Wellcome to Sunnydale'._** The 'Dale' part had been crossed out and 'Hell' had been written above it. They drove into the town and searched a real estate agent. They managed to rent a house. What disturbed Jarod was the fact that the price was beneath the average. He'd ask Jason about it later. They opted to wander around town a bit to get familiar with the surroundings. Jason had been in the town before, but that had been quite a while ago and he didn't really remember what the town looked like.

As they strolled trough town, the sun had begun to set. Jason told Jarod that pretty soon the vampires would come out of hiding. Neither were really concerned about getting attacked since they knew they'd be able to handle it.

They continued strolling until they arrived at what seemed to be a club. **_"The Bronze"_** the sign said.

"Wanna check it out? I'm kinda thirsty." Jason asked.

"Sure. I could use a drink too."

They entered the club and immediately, their senses were assulted by a multitude of smells, sounds and too bright spotlights. While Jason began to methodically tone down the signals he was recieving, Jarod didn't have the knowledge on how to do so. But luckely for him, his normal senses addapted fairly quickely to the huge amount of stimulations.

Before his senses had completely adapted, he noticed something.

"Jason, do you smell something... out of place?"

Jason looked at him and sniffed. It took him only a moment to notice the smell of death. Vampires.

"I do. Want to meet your first vampire?"

"Sure, but only if we kill it afterwards." While Jarod wouldn't normally be so eager to end someones life, this was different. Vampires were demons that inhabited dead bodies, disturbing their last rest.

"Sounds good to me, let's find out which ones are vamps and try to draw them out of the club. No sense in dusting them in here." Jarod agreed and they walked to a booth and sat down.

_-Other side of the Bronze.-_

"Yo, B."

Buffy looked up from her drink to her sister-in-arms, Faith. "What's wrong?"

"Check out the hotties that just walked in." Faith said with a predatory grin on her face.

Buffy turned to look at the entrance and had to agree with her. The two guys who just walked in were handsome. Both wearing black jeans and a long black coat. The first wore a bloodred sweater, while the other wore a white one. Both about the same height and both had black hair. The first one wore his hair in a long ponytail by the looks of it and the second had his hair in spikes. They looked around a bit, as if trying to find something or someone, then walked to a booth.

"Waddaya think, B? Good looking or what?" Faith asked, still wearing that predatory grin on her face. The grin that said she was about to do something either dangerous or unappropriate. Either way, she probably wasn't going to like it.

"Faith, whatever you're planning, no." Buffy grabbed the forearm of her fellow Slayer before she could do whatever she was planning. Faith pouted.

"But, B, I was just gonna ask if one of them wanted to dance. Come on, no harm in that, is there?"

Buffy couldn't believe it. Faith, tough dark Slayer Faith, was pouting. She was so stunned that her grip on her arm loosened enough for Faith to free her arm and begin walking in a sensual manner to where the two guys sat. By the time she recovered enough of her higher brain functions, it was too late to do anything about the situation.

_-Jason & Jarod's table-_

"Hello boys, would one of you be interrested in a dance with me?"

Both men turned to the voice that asked the question. Jarod only saw a young, couldn't be more then 15, maybe 16, blackhaired girl that looked like she was ready to party all night long. Jason, who had a little experience with magic, could feel that she was more then she appeared. He had only met a Slayer once, and even then it had been very brief, but it had been enough to enable him to identify the girl as a Slayer. He briefly debated what he would do, then made up his mind.

"Won't you join us for a drink?" He asked. Jarod looked at him rather strange, but he didn't say anything. Faith obviously thought she scored and readily sat down. After ordering a drink for her, Jason debated on how to ask if she really was a Slayer. He was almost completely sure of himself, but there was always a chance that he was wrong.

"Allow me to introduce myself and my companion. My friend's name is Jarod and I'm Jason. What should we call you?"

"I'm Faith. So, you new in town, cause I don't think I've seen you before."

"It's a pleasure, Faith. And yes, we are new in town. Only just arrived today."

"Ah, and what brings you to Sunnydale?"

"Bussines. I'm hoping to find somebody or at least get a lead on where she might be. I'm also hoping to confirm a rumor that I've heard about this town and in the process, show Jarod some of the...less known things in town." He hoped that with a subtle hint, he might get some reaction from the girl. And a reaction he got.

Faith stiffened almost imperceptible, but he'd seen it. Her eyes shot to a table on the other side of the club, to where a pretty blond was sitting and watching them. He'd also seen that.

"So, are you here alone or just looking for some variation in dancepartners?"

"I'm here with a friend, but she doesn't dance all that much." Which was true, since Buffy was a little down cause of the Angel bussines. Sure, he was back from Hell and had his soul again, but they weren't a couple anymore and her friends didn't trust him anymore. So, she felt a little under the water lately. Faith had hoped to lift her spirits a bit, but so far she had very little succes. 

"You mean you left your friend sitting all alone? Now that's not nice. Why don't you ask if she wants to join us instead off sitting alone."

"Sure, I'll go ask. Be right back." And with that, Faith stood and walked over to Buffy. Jarod waited until she was out of hearing range and turned to Jason.

"What was that all about?"

"Remember what I told you about the Slayers and the rumor that there are two of them now?" At Jarod's nod, he continued. "I'm almost possitive that that girl is one of them. But I'll explein later, cause here she comes back."

Faith had managed to get Buffy on her feet and was practically dragging her towards the table. When Jason felt the same kind of magic in her friend as she carried, he was sure. These girls were the Slayers and there were two of them!

"B, this is Jason and Jarod. Guys, this is B." and with that, Faith sat down, leaving Buffy standing, embarrased and the men confused about her name.

"Faith, when you introduce someone to someone else, at least use their full names."

"Alright allready. Guys, meet my friend, Elisabeth Anne Summers, but she likes to be called Buffy." Faith grinned and Buffy was even more embarrased and she quickly sat down to hide it.

"Pleased to meet you Buffy. And thank you Faith, for confirming the rumor I spoke about earlier." When both Buffy and Faith looked confused and just a little alarmed, he elaborated.

"Well, the rumor that I've heard is, that somehow, two Slayers now co-exist and work together to prevent the Hellmouth from reopening. Now, judging by your shocked faces, you start denying everything any second now, but that won't do you any good. You see, I can sense the magic that gives you two your Slayer abilities. I wasn't sure about Faith at first, but when you both came back and I could sense the magic in both of you, I was possitive I was right."

While Buffy looked like a trapped animal and ready to deny everything, Faith was scared too, but she could also see that Jason was completely calm and it appeared like he knew what he was talking about. His friend however, looked a little unsure and curious at the same time.

"Alright, what do you want?" Faith said in a tone that left little to the imagination.

"Want? Nothing. But I would like to get to know you better. My previous encounter with a Slayer was a bit brief to learn more then the basics."

This shook Buffy out of her shock. "You've known other Slayers?!?" She wispered/screamed.

"Just one, but do you mind if we continue this some other time? I wanted to introduce Jarod to a real vampire and give him the 411 on how to kill them. And since their leaving the building right now..."

The Slayers stood and were ready to run for the exit when a hand landed on their shoulders. "Slow down, this is supposed to be Jarod's initiation, so let us handle it. If things get out off control, then you can step in." Jason said in a tone that didn't leave room for arguing. And with that said, both Jarod and Jason walked towards the exit, leaving the Slayers dumbfolded behind.

******

Done with this chapter... Finally, I thought I'd never get around to finish it. Don't mind any spellingerrors, cause I'm too lazy to run it trough the spellchecker.

Anyway, question. I've been toying with the idea of making Buffy and Faith a couple while J&J are in town. Does anyone think I shouldn't do this? I promise, it wouldn't be all fluffy and stuff...

Until next time and REVIEW!!!


	5. Trouble

Disclaimer: Don't own them, but Jason is mine.

A/n: Sorry it took so long, but I've been having some personal problems... Anyway, I'm gonna try to make this a multicrossover, but I could use some help... Anyone who has decent ideas or thoughts, feel free to share them...

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Chapter 5

-- Trouble --

It didn't take long for the Slayers to regain their senses and hurry outside. They didn't know just who those guys were, but obviously, they didn't know about vampires very well if they thought they could easily handle them. Well, that, or they had some other advantage...

When they reached the place where they could hear the fight going on, they were rendered speechless. The one that had been introduced as Jarod was hammering away on the vampires like they were puppets. Jason stood a few meters away, looking at the fight with a smile on his face. Faith, being the one who recovered first, silently walked to Jason, taking care not to disturb Jarod. He was up against 3 vamps and while he looked like he was well holding his own, if he should become distracted, the vamps could gain the upper hand. Not that it would do them any good when both Buffy and herself were here, but still...

"Hey." She silently said when she reached Jason.

"Hey yourself." he said back.

"How is he doing that? Hell, I mean, it looks like it doesn't cost him any trouble..."

"Oh, but it's costing him trouble, let me assure you. He's simply never done anything like this before. You see, Jarod is a pacifist at heart and would normally never harm anyone, unless they truly deserve it. But seeing as how he believes the dead should remain untouched and as these vampires don't have a soul, I believe he's letting go of all his frustrations he normally keeps bottled up. He caught his fair share of hits, but he'll come out as the victor."

"He's never done this before??" Buffy asked, having reached the duo in time to hear the explanation.

"No, he hasn't. This is the first time he's putting his training in practice. And for someone who only learned how to truly brawl two days ago, I'd say he's doing very well for himself."

"He only learned how to fight two days ago?" Buffy asked.

"Yep."

"And you expect us to believe that? With the ease that he's taking on those vamps, he must have had at least some years of experience in fighting. No way that anyone is that good after two days." She stated. No even her, who had Slayer abilities, could have learned how to fight in such a short amount of time.

"Jarod learns really fast. And I mean really fast. He has an unusual talent that allows him to learn anything in an impossibly sort amount of time. I think that if you gave him a book about the mechanics in a car, he'd be able to put his own designed car together the next day."

"Really?" Faith asked with wonder in her voice.

"Nope." They heard Jarod grunt as he ducked under the punch of a vamp. "If you gave me that book in the morning..." Duck, retaliate, "then I'd be designing the car..." Sidestep, high kick, duck, sweep, "while I was reading the book and I'd be putting it together..." Punch in the face, "in the afternoon." Then he produced a stake from his jacket, one that Jason had given him earlier, and put in trough the heart of the undead creature. He quickly finished off the remaining two vamps and dusted himself off afterwards.

"Phew, that was intense. Never knew they'd be this strong or fast." He said as he reached the others.

"You didn't know vampires where stronger and faster than normal men?" Buffy asked, unable to believe that he didn't know that and still fought the way he had.

"Well, I knew they were stronger and faster, but I didn't think they would be this strong or fast."

"They were somewhat older than newborns, so they had the advantage of experience on their side. Didn't help them very much, but even so..." Jason remarked.

"Huh? How did you know that? Never mind, I don't wanna know. At least not now, cause I'm getting cold here."

Buffy was about to say something when both men suddenly tensed and began looking around.

"What is it? What's wrong?" She asked.

"Someone's coming. And he feels very familiar somehow..." Jason slowly said.

"Feels? What do you mean by that?"

The answer to that question wouldn't be answered for some time to come, since at that moment, a rather large, disgusting looking demon dropped from the roof next to them on the ground. It growled at them, but rather than attacking, it turned and made to run. It probably would have gotten away, if not for the fact that something slammed it into the wall. Then another figure, human this time, or at least as far as they could tell, dropped from the roof, dressed completely in black, with it's back towards them so they couldn't see it's face.

Whoever it was, it appeared that it was male, if his build was accurate. He stood up from his crouched position and walked over to where the demon had fallen after being slammed into the wall. Jason didn't know what was going on, but one thing he did notice. He could feel the telltale tingle that came over him whenever he was near or used Khaydarin Crystals. He could feel the power of the Void, the power of the Dark Templar from whom he had learned so much and owed even more. That meant could only mean that one of the two, or possibly both, was in the possession of a Crystal. He couldn't allow an unknown person to hold an artifact which possessed such potential danger.

The man closed in on the demon and lifted his arm in its direction. Gravity suddenly seemed to abandon the creature as it became airborne. The man lifted his other arm and made as if he was about to break something over his knee. He pulled his hands apart in a quick motion and the demon was torn in two pieces. The legs wetly fell down and began dissolving almost instantly. The torso fell too, but it didn't dissolve. The demon was still alive, but wouldn't be for long. The man swiftly walked up to him and used whatever power he had used to lift the demon in the air to punch the torso flat against the ground. A disgusting cracking sound could be heard as the demon was literally flattened against the ground. Fluids of all kinds, blood, gore, squished organs, burst from the now almost flat body, effectively and totally destroying whatever life had remained in the body part. Soon the remains began dissolving as the legs had done, leaving nothing but a somewhat blue-green puddle behind. That too began shrinking slowly and soon nothing would remain of the former demon.

The man turned towards Jason and the others. He looked familiar, even with the dark sunglasses he wore. Suddenly, Jason recognised the form of the jaw, the general outline of the face. But it couldn't be...

"Jarod?" He questioned. Jarod turned to look at him, confused.

"Not anymore. I go by Jay now." The man answered.

"But it is you, isn't it?"

"Yes. I am the one you know as Jarod. I'll explain everything, but can we please go somewhere a little less public?"

"Uh, sure. Let's go to our place." He suggested. Jay nodded once. Jason looked at the two slayers and looked back at the newcomer.

"They can come if they want too." He said.

"Want to come?" Jason asked the duo.

Faith shrugged and nodded. After all, nobody was waiting for her and the motel room she stayed at was something she wanted to see as little as possible. Buffy didn't look to certain. Her mom knew she was with Faith at the Bronze, but she had no way of informing her mother that she would be going someplace else. A flicker of movement caught her eye and her hand caught the cell phone Jay had thrown her way. She looked at it and then at Jay.

"Go ahead, call your mother. Tell her that you'll be staying with Faith tonight or something." He said. At this, Faith sharply looked at him, but since Buffy's back was turned to the younger Slayer, she missed it. Jason and Jarod however, didn't. Buffy looked at the cell phone again and made a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret later. She punched the number of her house and waited for her mom to answer the phone.

"Hello?" She heard her mother's voice.

"Mom? Hi, it's me. Uhm, Faith isn't feeling to well and I don't like to leave her alone in the motel. Is it ok to stay with her tonight?" Buffy asked in her best acting voice.

"Faith's not well? Can't you bring her here?" Her mother asked.

"She says it's only her stomach and doesn't want to walk all the way to our house. I really don't want to leave her alone mom. Can I stay?"

"Well...Ok, but only this once. And if things get worse, you bring her here, understand?"

"Yes mom. I understand. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"All right. Tell Faith I hope she gets better soon."

"I will. Goodnight mom."

"Goodnight Buffy." And with that, Joyce hung up the phone. Buffy disconnected too and shut the phone down. She tossed it back at Jay, who caught it swiftly and pocketed it.

"I can go." She said. Then she turned to Faith. "My mom told me to tell you to get well soon." At this, Faith laughed. Jason and Jarod smiled, Jay allowed a small grin to appear on his lips, but it vanished almost as soon as it had come. Jarod lead the way, Buffy and Faith followed close behind, quietly talking about how Jay could have defeated that demon. Jason chose to walk besides Jay, hoping to start somewhat of a conversation, but it appeared that Jay wasn't in the mood for small talk. So he left him be and simply walked in silence next to him.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the house Jason and Jarod have claimed earlier that day. Once all of them were inside, Jarod led them to the living room. Faith and Buffy shared the sofa, Jarod sat in a one-person couch with Jason on the armrest and Jay sat in the other one-person couch. He looked pretty tense and had yet to take off his jacket or even his sunglasses.

"Why don't you make yourself comfortable? It can't be very good for your eyes to keep those glasses on where the illumination isn't all that great." Jason remarked.

Jay snorted. "The reason why I keep my glasses on is that I don't want to scare or shock you. My... eyes aren't something pretty to look at."

"How so?" Jarod ventured.

"I lost my eyes some time ago and they had to be replaced. Unfortunately, at that moment, we lacked to proper medical facilities to do so and my eyes had to be replaced by cybernetic implants." And at this, he took off his dark sunglasses. Dark red stared at them. It didn't look like he had eyes at all, but like they put red glassy orbs in his eye sockets.

"As you can see, I wear the glasses with a reason. What you can see of my eyes is only the ruby-quartz protection layer. Behind it are the real implants."

"Maybe it would be best if you started with the beginning. I think that I'm beginning to suspect a little about what is going on, but that can't be said for the rest of our friends here." Jason remarked.

"You're right, I should begin at the beginning. All right, as mentioned before, I am Jarod, but I'm the Jarod from 180 years in the future." He quickly held up his hand to silence any remarks and continued. "It all about started 50 years back in my time, when more of us came in the world. By more of us I mean people who are genetically different from normal human beings. The normal people felt threatened by those who had gifts or abilities that they did not have. They felt as if we were trying to take over from them, which, by the way, we didn't. We simply wanted to live our lives, but it seems that it couldn't be done. Over the years, more disturbances arose and our kind was being discriminated. As time went on, thing became more violent than ever, until finally, 30 years ago, humanity declared war upon us. We were driven from our homes, hunted down like animals. Many were captured; even more were killed in senseless battle. Those captured were tortured for information about whereabouts of others. They didn't live long after capture, but the existence they led was unbearable. I was captured once myself, and experienced the horrors first hand." He slightly rubbed his left forearm and hand. He looked at Jason and Jarod. "I'd like to tell them what we are. I want to show them a little of what they did to me, but to understand the full implications of it, they have to know what we are. You don't need to worry, they can be trusted with the knowledge."

The two men looked at each other and seemed to silently debate whether or not to give in to the request. Finally, they both nodded. Jay nodded too and turned to the Slayers.

"Both Jason and I are Werewolves. Unlike your friend Oz, who was bitten by one, we were born a Werewolf. There are differences between Werewolves that are born and those turned into one, but one thing that we hold in common is our weakness towards silver. We can wear silver as jewelry and so on, but when it comes in contact with our blood, or something else from the inside of our bodies, it turns into a deadly poison for us."

While he talked, he removed his jacket. He rolled up the sleeve of his left arm and took off the glove that was on his left hand.

"When I was captured, they wasted no time in trying to extract information from me. When I proved to be uncooperative, they resorted to bigger means. They found pleasure in separating my hand from my arm while I was fully conscious." At this point, he showed his left arm. At first sight, nothing seemed abnormal, but then he reached to somewhere around the middle of his lower arm and stripped off the artificial skin that hid his mechanical arm and hand.

"At first, the pain was excruciating, but I was partially able to shut down my pain nerves with a technique I learned during the war. However, due to my exhaustion and shock, the technique wasn't as effective as it should have been. I could still feel the pain as they slowly sawed through my wrist. When they were done, they threatened to continue this until I told them what they wanted to know. To further encourage me to speak, the sprinkled silver powder over my wrist. The powder was absorbed into my system and began to destroy the rest of my arm from the inside out. The pain was excruciating, pain ignorance technique or not. Luckily for me, Jason and a group of friends busted down the installation they had been using as headquarters. If they had been somewhat later, I might not have been here. They brought me back to our home, a city hidden deep within the Earth underneath a mountain chain and only accessible by Portal. We had lost most of our resources during the course of the war and lacked the time needed to put me into a regeneration tank in order to re-grow my hand. Instead, the doctors had to remove part of my lower arm to rid my body of the silver and attached a cybernetic arm and hand instead. They also injected me with a stream of nanoprobes to speed up the repair of my internal organs as my captors had seen to it that I was beaten to the point where I couldn't make an escape anymore, even if the base was deserted. The nanoprobes did more than repair the damage as they began to swarm my body and began to improve it. They transferred body fat in muscle tissue, enhanced my nervous system and upped my speed. Finally, they created a probe production center in my cybernetic arm and they settled there until needed again. When I woke up, I was twice as strong and fast as I had been. My reaction time had improved by 40%. But while they enhanced and repaired most of my body, they could not repair the brain damage I got due to earlier radiation exposure. I used to have pretty strong telepathic skills and now I can hardly make contact with another mind, even a telepathic one. Also, my ability to concentrate has dropped severely."

Jay paused a bit before continuing.

"I realise that I'm giving you a lot of information, but you need to understand what they are capable off and what they were willing to do. They aren't afraid to use radiation weapons. And it's not only us mystically enhanced humans, like werewolves and other shape shifters. People with mutations were targeted as well. And so were witches, mages, wizards and any other magic user, simply by association. Anyone who didn't classify as 'normal' human being was their prey."

All present in the room looked horrified. While Jason and Jarod, and even Faith to a certain extent, could rely more on personal experience, Buffy could hardly fathom the thought that one human would willingly and deliberately do things like that to another human being. She lived to protect the people that didn't know about the dangers that lay under their world, she fought to keep the normal people alive and now she hears that they declare war upon people that are somewhat different?

"What about your eyes? How did that happen?" Jarod asked. He knew that humans could have real ugly streaks, but this topped what he thought possible. He also saw that Buffy didn't look too well, so he tried to create a distraction so she wouldn't focus on the bad things she heard.

"The incident that caused me to lose my arm happened about 5 months ago. Two weeks ago, our worst fear came to pass. One of the captives must have cracked, because humanity learned about Thalamatros, our city. Even worse, they had constructed machines that could generate Portals. They had extracted the location of our city and had begun planning an invasion. We could evacuate most of the city before they arrived. You see, there are only two Portalpoints in Thalamatros and one of them is always on standby, while the other is offline. The Portalpoints are located on opposite sides of the city and to prevent that some enemy should invade our city from two points, we only allow one Portalpoint to be active at the time. We activated the second Portalpoint and opened a Portal to another cave that once held considerable resources. I was in charge of the evacuation, while Jason would see to it that the human army wouldn't find anything of interest in the city. When I radioed him to tell him the evacuation was complete, he told me to go too, that he would stall the human army."

Jay shook his head and buried it in his hands.

"I never should have listened. Just as I stepped in the Portal, I could feel a massive amount of energy being gathered in the center of the city. Jason would keep word and see that nothing of interest in Thalamatros would fall into enemy hands. He had decided that the only possibility for that was to destroy the city. Since we didn't believe in keeping weapons of such destructive magnitude in the city, he began calling forth all the magical energies he could get a hold off. Next he began summoning all the power he could draw from the Void and added that to the assembled energy mass. Then he drew what power he could get from nature itself. Entire droves of human soldiers died as the energy that kept them alive was sucked from them. By this time I had ported back to the city in an attempt to stop him from self-destructing. I failed. He detonated the gathered energy and laid waste to the entire city. The psychic shockwave caused our Pylons to overload and explode, resulting in an even greater psychic shock. That is how I lost my eyes. They were blinded by the flash at first, something I would have eventually recovered from. But the psychic shockwave made my eyes literally explode. Pure agony, trust me on that one. The physical shockwave threw me back over a distance of 30 meters until I finally hit a building, shattering the wall and my spine in the process. I could no longer feel anything in my legs and the lower part of my body, but due to the enhancements made by the probes and the probes themselves, I wasn't paralyzed just yet. I could move my legs enough to get around. I discovered that the Khaydarin Bracelet I had been wearing had been fused in my arm by the explosion. I slowly made my way to where Jason had been when he made his last stance. I had learned long ago never to rely on any single sense, so I tried to find his body, if anything was left, by using my other senses. When I found him, I was shocked beyond rational explanation that he was somehow still alive, if barely. His body was a mess. How he could still be alive, we still don't know, but he was. He did once told me that he was to dumb to quit and to stubborn to die, but this was really stretching it. I had to drag both of us back to the Portal and ported to the second cave. They put Jason in a stasis cell until they could get him medical attention. We relocated to our last resort and there they gave me my new eyes. It really wasn't needed to place the ruby-quartz as protection, but it has some unusual qualities. Such as that it makes infrared light visible. Like this."

Everyone present looked with great interest as two points of diffuse white light came on the red orbs that appeared to be his eyes. The light looked to be the iris and pupil of the eyes, except for the fact that no distinction between the two.

"This is done by projecting infrared light on the ruby-quartz. There are small projectors installed on the implants, so I can give myself somewhat normal eyes. This setting needs little concentration, and if it weren't for the power drain from the projectors, I'd probably keep them on. But with enough concentration..."

The diffuse orbs became sharper and created the illusion of a neat circle in the red orbs. It went even further as a second circle appeared in the middle of the light spot. That gave the impression of a red pupil surrounded by a white iris. It looked like he had real eyes. Suddenly, the light vanished and left empty red orbs in its place. Jay sighed deeply.

"As you could see, I'm able to generate a relatively clear image of iris and pupil, but the concentration it requires is great and the power to focus the projectors like that even greater. That and my inability to concentrate for long periods of time is why I'm unable to maintain the image very long."

"Isn't there a way to lessen the power drain for the projectors, or to have a greater power supply for them?" Jason asked. It seemed that Jay liked to have at least some semblance of 'real' eyes.

"No, not to my knowledge. The batteries, so to speak, are charged with my own bio-electric energy. They don't have a great capacity and as such are next to useless. Even at the lowest level of sharpness of projection, the power is drained in a mere 5 minutes. Then it takes at least an hour to recharge. Thus negating any possible long term use." He sighed. He had looked into the matter, but short of finding an alternate power source for the projectors, he didn't see any real solutions. He saw Buffy raising her hand, like she was in school asking for permission for something. He nodded to her.

"Uhm, you sort of used a lot of terms that I didn't quite understand. Would you mind explaining them?" She asked. He could see that both Faith and his younger self were interested as well. However, Jason seemed to be in thought about something.

"Sure. I'm guessing some of them would be Portals, Portalpoints, Khaydarin Bracelet and Pylons, right?"

"That about sums it up..." She murmured.

"Ok. I'll start with Portals. Portals are a means of travel for us, and anyone who learns to summon one. They are entirely natural and can be summoned by magic or technology. They can appear by themselves as well, but hoping one will pop up just when and where you need it, just isn't a great way to use them."

People grinned at that comment.

"Portalpoints are items that can be used to secure the exit ending of the Portal. It's not strictly needed, but is a whole lot safer. Cause you can summon a Portal and pretty much chose where it ends, but that ending can still shift from its location. Imagine that you open one just in front of a wall, to avoid opening one in an open area. The exit shifts somewhat and drifts into the wall. Do you see what would happen when someone would travel through? They'd reappear within the wall, effectively killing them."

"Ah, that would be...bad..." Buffy said.

"Indeed. You can also create a passageway between two Portalpoints. There isn't much that differs from using a normal Portal, except that both ends of the passage are stable and the connection can be set up near instantaneous. You also travel a little faster, but not enough to make a real difference. Ok, what's next? Uhm...ah, the Bracelet."

He rolled up the sleeve of his right arm and showed the bracelet, about the length of his entire forearm. Only, it seemed to be ingrained into his arm itself.

"I was wearing the Bracelet when I went back to stop Jason from self-destructing. It has a few minor magical enhancements like speed and strength upgrades. I was hoping the speed boost would get me to Jason in time. When the explosion happened, it somehow fused with my arm, making it a part of me. There doesn't seem to be any difference by having it permanently attached to my arm, with the exception that I can't take it off anymore. You can see that the markings are still intact, thus leaving the enhancements active. However, the Crystals that are placed on it as focal point for the enhancements are slightly cracked. In time, they will crack further and eventually break. The Bracelet will lose its power when that happens. And I will lose my edge in battle when that happens."

Jay sighed.

" Oh well, nothing to be done about it. And last we have the Pylons. In short, they are the things that provide us with power in Thalamatros. They're a unique form of power and one that I know little about. All I know is that they draw their power directly from the astral plane and create a field of power that we use to power our systems."

By the look on Buffy's face, he could see that she didn't understand a word of what he just said. As was to be expected. He could see that Faith was interrested, but was trying hard to look bored. Why she did that, he never understood, but it seemed that Faith wanted to appear dumber than she really was. He also saw that she was tired.

"I see that some of us are getting tired. I think it would be best if we retired for the night. Tomorrow is a new day and we need to be well rested for it. Tomorrow is a full moon and if I recall correctly, you have a cage in the schoollibrary where Oz is 'guarded' when he goes through the change, right? Why don't we meet then and we'll talk further."

"Agreed, but first tell us why exactly you're here now." Jason said, finally coming out of his own thoughts.

"I thought that would have been obvious. The future is a horrible place where I come from. I'm here to prevent that future from occuring." Jay said with a grave and sad voice.

"I figured as much. but let's keep that for tomorrow. Now, about sleeping arrangements. Buffy, Faith, if you want, you can spend the night here, if you don't mind sharing a bed, that is. There are three bedrooms, so I figured, the both of you sharing one, if you stay. Then Jay can have the second one and Jarod and me will share the last. Any objections?" Jason asked

Getting none, he stood and bid them all a goodnight. The others rose too and went to their assigned bedrooms. Soon, everyone in the house was asleep. Everyone, but Jay. He lay in his bed, contemplating his mission. And it's consequences...

******

Starcraft and everything from it belongs to Blizzard. I'm only using the setting and items from the game for entertainment.

Sorry it took me so long to post this, but I had messy stuff going on. Life, they call it... Anyway, tell me what you think and if you have any ideas for the story or thoughts for crossovers, let me know. I might just use them, but no guarantees...

Aiwan, my friend, I'm shocked in you! Werewolves are no curse, they're people like you and me, only they have something extra in their genes that makes them somewhat hairy three nights a month. Besides, it's not because one is a werewolf, that one is evil...

To Pete: If I wanted to stay true to the show, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, now would I?

REVIEW!!!


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